The 3% retention when a non-resident sells property in Spain (and how to get it back)

What is the 3% retention?

Spanish law says that when someone who isn’t tax resident in Spain sells a property here, the buyer has to withhold 3% of the agreed price and pay it to the tax authorities. The buyer can be resident or non-resident, a private person or a company: the obligation is the same.

The reason is simple. Hacienda can’t easily chase someone who lives in Manchester or Gothenburg once the money has left Spain, so it collects part of the tax up front. That 3% (in Spanish, the retención del 3%) then counts towards the non-resident capital gains tax you have to declare yourself.

So on a sale at €400,000, you’ll receive €388,000 at the notary (notario) and the buyer pays the other €12,000 to the tax office in your name.

What the buyer has to do: form 211

The buyer declares and pays the retention with form 211 (Modelo 211). It has to be done within one month of the date of the sale, which is the day the deed (escritura) is signed, and it’s filed with the tax office for the area where the property is.

Once it’s paid, the buyer must give you a copy of the form. That copy matters: it’s your proof that 3% of the price has already been paid on your behalf, and you’ll need it for your own return.

What if the buyer doesn’t pay it? The law covers that too: the property stays liable for the lower of the retention or the tax owed. In other words, the debt stays attached to the house. That’s why any buyer with a decent lawyer will insist on keeping the 3% back at signing, and why you shouldn’t try to negotiate it away.

How the 3% counts towards your own tax (form 210)

As the seller, you have to declare your gain with form 210 (Modelo 210), the non-resident income tax return. The gain is the difference between what you sold for and what you paid:

• Sale value: the sale price minus the costs and taxes of the sale that you paid.
• Purchase value: what you paid, plus the costs and taxes of buying (not mortgage interest) and the cost of improvements. Repairs and maintenance don’t count. If you rented the property out, the depreciation is deducted.

The tax on that gain is 19%, whichever country you live in. The 3% the buyer paid goes in the box for retentions and payments on account, and it’s taken off. That leaves three possibilities:

• The 19% is more than the 3%: you pay the difference.
• The 19% is less than the 3%: Hacienda refunds the excess.
• You made a loss: there’s no tax, and the whole 3% can be refunded. But only if you file the return; the Agencia Tributaria says so explicitly.

If the property was owned by more than one person, for example a couple, each non-resident owner files their own form 210 for their share and claims their share of the retention.

The 3% is never the final tax. It’s an advance. Your real tax is 19% of your real gain, and the only way to settle the difference is to file form 210.

Deadlines and how long the refund takes

Everything runs from the date of the deed. These deadlines are still the same after the June 2026 changes to form 210, which affected the returns for rental and imputed income, not property sales.

The six months are a limit for interest, not a promise. If the tax office decides to check your return and asks for invoices or documents, the refund waits until that check is over. A complete, well-documented return is the best way to avoid that.

If you miss the filing window you can still file late, but the six-month period then starts from the day you file, not from the end of the window. You simply wait longer for your money.

The refund is paid by bank transfer. If the account is in your name, it can be with a bank in Spain or abroad, so a UK, Norwegian or Swedish account in your name works.

A worked example (hypothetical)

These figures are made up to show the mechanics. They’re not a real sale.

Two sellers, both non-resident, each sell a flat for €300,000. The buyer keeps back 3% in both cases: €9,000.

• Seller A bought for €200,000, paid €20,000 in purchase taxes and costs, and €8,000 in selling costs. Gain: €292,000 − €220,000 = €72,000. Tax at 19%: €13,680. Minus the €9,000 already paid, Seller A pays €4,680 with form 210.
• Seller B bought for €265,000, paid €25,000 in purchase taxes and costs, and €8,000 in selling costs. Gain: €292,000 − €290,000 = €2,000. Tax at 19%: €380. Minus the €9,000 already paid, Seller B gets €8,620 back, but only after filing form 210.

Seller B is the person who loses out by doing nothing. Over €8,000 stays with Hacienda simply because no one filed the return.

The documents you’ll need

To file form 210 properly, and to have answers ready if the tax office asks, gather:

• Your NIE (foreigner identity number).
• The sale deed, with the date and the price.
• The copy of form 211 the buyer gave you.
• Your purchase deed, or the inheritance documents if you inherited the property. In that case the purchase value is the one used for inheritance tax; if it’s your situation, have a look at selling an inherited property in Spain.
• Invoices and receipts for buying costs: transfer tax or VAT, notary, land registry, gestoría.
• Invoices for improvements, with dates. Without an invoice, an improvement is very hard to prove.
• Invoices for selling costs that you paid, such as notary fees and the municipal capital gains tax (plusvalía municipal).
• If you let the property out: the information on depreciation from your earlier returns.
• The bank account details for the refund, in your name.

Mistakes that cost non-resident sellers money

• Thinking the 3% is the end of it. If your gain is large, you’ll owe more, and late filing brings surcharges.
• Not filing because you made a loss. That’s exactly when you’re owed the most.
• Losing the copy of form 211. It’s the proof of what was paid in your name.
• Counting repairs as improvements. Painting and fixing leaks don’t add to the purchase value.
• Waiting until the deadline to look for papers. Old invoices take time to find, especially from abroad.

When you sell from abroad, it helps to have someone in Spain coordinating the notary, the buyer’s lawyer and the paperwork. That’s what we do when you sell your property in Spain from abroad with us. And if you don’t know yet what your home is worth, a valuation is the first step to working out your gain.

Frequently asked questions